That should never have happened. But at least now it's basically official.
The Dallas Cowboys have declined quarterback Trey Lance's fifth-year option, according to ESPN.
Unsurprisingly, the Dallas Cowboys will decline quarterback Trey Lance's fifth-year option, sources told ESPN.
The decision was essentially made last August, when the Cowboys acquired Lance from the San Francisco 49ers for a 2024 fourth-round pick. If the Cowboys had taken this option, it would have cost $22.4 million, which is fully guaranteed and contradicts the club's stated desire to keep Dak Prescott beyond 2024. Dew.
As it stands, the Cowboys have no quarterbacks on the roster signed beyond this season, and Prescott, Lance and Cooper Rush are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents next March. The Cowboys are unable to use the franchise tag on Prescott, and the quarterback recently stated that extension talks have not actually begun.
As Todd Archer points out here, even at the time of the initial trade in August 2023, the odds were never high that Dallas would exercise Lance's fifth-year option. There wasn't. The No. 3 overall pick in 2021, Lance's option number (which would have been fully guaranteed) is a hefty $22.4 million. This was never a legitimate consideration considering the Cowboys barely saw him play outside of practice.
Lance becomes the latest quarterback to have his option not picked up from a first-round pick in 2021, as the Jacksonville Jaguars and Denver Broncos rejected Mac Jones and Zach Wilson, respectively. All three are on new teams entering their fourth seasons (as is Justin Fields, now a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers), but the Cowboys have paid more for their signal-callers than any other team. also paid much more for Lance's services.
For what it's worth, Micah Parsons was the 12th overall pick in the draft, so the Cowboys had to decide on two fifth-year options this offseason. They (understandably) take the Micah option and hopefully complete an extension with him sooner rather than later.
We'll see about that.
